A Window Opens

A Window Opens

Alice Pearse, dutiful steward to both suburban motherhood and the NYC literati, possesses that coveted “work/home equilibrium” in Elisabeth Egan’s debut novel, A Window Opens—that is, until her husband loses his job at a powerful New Jersey law office. In order to make ends meet in the meantime, Alice quits her job as books editor at You magazine to work at “Scroll”, a company plotting the germination of “e-book literary salons” across the nation. Alice is enticed at first by Scroll’s clean and efficient work atmosphere and attitude—whoever designed the Scroll office seemed to have read a book on feng-shui inspired by the aesthetic of a Google chrome-book. Corporate jargon and a general disdain for “carbon-based books," however, begin to gnaw away at Alice’s sense of self and belonging within her own family. If you are adverse to books exploring the value of family, then this isn’t the book for you, but make sure not to categorize A Window Opens as mere chick-lit—Egan’s satirical take on corporate absurdity gives this book a worthwhile edge that devotees of the “carbon-based” book will find delectable.